HCI offers hope to water crisis in the Bronkhorstspruit area
In a letter to De Jager and Knox in January 2017, of which Streeknuus has a copy, Brink outlined these problems, including the fact that the reservoirs were not being cleaned.
Although the road is still long, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Bronkhorstspruit’s water problems.
This is the view of Jabu Mabona, head of the City of Tshwane’s Region 7. Private institutions such as HCI Resources’ Palesa Mine are helping to shorten that road.
The mine and the committee representing the transport companies at Palesa Mine recently donated a repaired motor for a pump at the water purification plant to Mabona and Themba Fosi, mayoral committee member for utilities.
However, this donation is not limited to the restoration work, which amounted to about R462 000, as HCI Resources also offered their expertise and guidance for a practical solution to the area’s water issues.
According to Pieter Terblanche, the Chief Executive Officer of HCI Resources, their engineers in conjunction with other service providers, compiled a complete report on all the problems and how they can be resolved.
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Terblanche emphasised that the restored motor would quickly deteriorate if Tshwane does not repair and maintain the electrical safety systems or if the motor is incorrectly installed. Therefore, the company has also made their artisans available to the metro.
Terblanche explained to Streeknuus that their report to the City of Tshwane considered everything that is wrong with the water supply system, from where water is pumped from the Bronkhorst River at the Draai to be purified at the water plant, to the reservoirs from where it is distributed to various points.
“It will cost around R7 million to repair just the basics, such as the electricity supply and safety systems needed to ensure pumps don’t burn out; to repair all the pumps that pump water from the river and to get all five pumps at the purification plant operational.”
The pleas of residents from Bronkhorstspruit, Zithobeni, Rethabiseng, and surrounding areas boiled over in and led to protests on the R568 in 2022.
“This affected our employees and operations at Palesa Mine. In conversations with the community, it became clear that dirty drinking water and dry taps that sometimes lasted for weeks, contributed most to the protestors’ frustration,” Terblanche said.
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This prompted HCI Resources to intervene and help. Bronkhorstspruit’s water problems are due to years of deterioration and poor maintenance.
Terblanche said HCI Resources wants to further assist the metro council and believes this is the best way to solve the problems. By Wednesday, he was still waiting for a date when the metro’s delegation would meet with him to discuss the report.
Even residents of the Thembisile Hani Municipality in KwaMhlanga will be pleased when the Bronkhorstspruit water purification plant is fully operational again.
This municipality relies on Bronkhorstspruit’s plant for water and had thus reported the City of Tshwane to the Human Rights Commission last year for failing to honour a water supply agreement between the two municipalities.
Former official, longtime councilor, and municipal law expert, Carenesta de Jager, and former councilor and advocate for Bronkhorstspruit, Cecilia Knox, agree that Tshwane’s executive mayor, Cilliers Brink, has been aware of the water problems since 2016.
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At the time, they repeatedly conveyed residents’ complaints about discoloured drinking water to the metro council. In late 2016, as a member of the mayoral committee, Brink visited the town, listened to De Jager, and Knox took him to the problem sites.
In a letter to De Jager and Knox in January 2017, of which Streeknuus has a copy, Brink outlined these problems, including the fact that the reservoirs were not being cleaned.
He pledged to hold accountable the officials who had been slacking. He also mentioned in this letter that refurbishment work worth R35 million was planned for the former Kungwini area’s water infrastructure.
“Nothing has come of it. Brink now wants to take credit for what Palesa has done, but Tshwane was not involved,” said Knox.
De Jager said Palesa Mine did in a few weeks what Brink promised on January 9, 2017, but failed to deliver. She added that local businesses, like Wessel Smal and his team from Teeco Engineering, also regularly stepped in to solve the town’s water problems at their own expense.
“Tshwane hasn’t paid a cent.”
According to De Jager, the raw water plant, water purification plant, sewage plant, and sewage pump station were in 100% working condition when Tshwane took over the town’s management in 2011.
“There was even a functioning laboratory, which has since been removed.”
De Jager added that the Thembisile Hani Municipality should have received its water from the Department of Water and Sanitation years ago.
“The pipeline was laid for that, but the switch never happened. Moreover, there is no limit or measurement of the water supply from the Bronkhorstspruit plant to Thembisile Hani.”
Streeknuus sent emails to the head of communication at the City of Tshwane, as well as to Themba Fosi on September 20, asking for comment on Palesa Mine’s donation and report, when a meeting would be held, what the metro would bring to the table to help solve the problem, and the agreement with Thembisile Hani Municipality.
By Monday, there had been no acknowledgment of receipt. Meanwhile, Mabona also expressed his thanks to other businesses that have already intervened to help residents during this water crisis. He also singled out Sasol, which drilled boreholes at local clinics to alleviate the water shortage.
